Portable mixer



July 5, 1932. w VENABLE 1,866,138

PORTABLE MIXER Filed March 23, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR July 5,1932. w. M. VENABLE PORTABLE MIXER F-iled March 2 5. 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet2 KNVENTOR July 5, 1932. w. M VENABLE PORTABLE MIXER Filed March 23,1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 W lllll INVENTOR Patented July 5, 1932 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE WILLIAM MAYO VENABLE, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA,ASIG-NOR TO BLAW-KNOX COMPANY, OF BLAWNOX, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATIONOF NEW JERSEY PORTABLE MIXER Application filed March 28, 1981. SerialNo. 524,491.

This invention relates generally to portable mixers, and moreparticularly to means for supplying accuratelymeasured quantity of waterto the rotatable drum of a portable mixer mounted on a truck.

According to the present invention, a plurality of water tanks arearranged on the truck chassis below the mixer drum and the water in eachof the tanks is forced under pneumatic pressure to spray nozzlesarranged within the drum. The tanks preferably have different capacitiesso that by emptying a proper number and combination of the tanks thedesired quantity of water can be supplied 16 to the drum.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate the present preferredembodiment of my invention,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portable 2 mixer, parts being brokenaway Figure 2 is a plan view;

Figure 3 is an end view looking from the left in Figure 1, andillustrating somewhat diagrammatically the arrangement of piping forsupplying water fromthe water tanks to the mixing drum;

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic illustration of a device which may beconnected to the exhaust pipe of a gasoline engine in order to supplythe high-pressure portion of the exhaust gas to the water tanks forforcing water from the tanks to the mixer drum; and

Figure 5 is a detail of one of the spray nozzles arranged in the mixerdrum.

Referring more particularly to the accompanying drawings, the mixer ismounted on a truck chassis 2 having wheels 3 whereby the mixer may betransported from one place to another. A rotatable drum 3 is providedwith a charging opening 4, shown in Figure 2. and the rear end of thedrum is provided with a discharge opening closed by a cover 5 which isopened and closed through the operating mechanism indicated generally bythe refer- 45 ence numeral. 6. The drum is rotated by means of drivingrollers 7 which contact with rings 7a secured to the drum. the rollers 7being secured to a drive shaft 8 which is rotated from an engine 9. Thedriving connections between the engine and drive shaft are not shown, asthey form no part of the present invention;

Theiwater which is .t,0 be supplied to the spray nozzles 10 is carriedin a plurality of tanks arranged below the mixer drum. As lllustrated inthe drawings, there are three tanks 15, 16 and 17, the tank 15 beingarranged on the opposite side of the chassis from the tanks 16 and 17.The tanks are suspended from the truck chassis by straps 18, and each of'the, tanks is-provided with a sump 19 and drain cock 19a, whereby thewater in the tanks may be entirely drained.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the tank 15 has acapacity which is twice that of either of the tanks 16 or 17 althoughthe ratio of these capacities may be varied according to circumstances.If the m xer is of such size that it will never require more than eightygallons of water per batch, tank 15 is made of a capacity of fortygallons, and each of the tanks 16 and 17 is of such size that they havea capacity of twenty gallons each. Each of the tanks 15, 16 and 17 isconnected to the mixer drum, as hereinafter more fully described, sothat if it were desired, for example, to use fifty gallons of water in acertain batch, the entire contents of tank 15 would be used and tengallons would be withdrawn from tank 17. If sixtyfive gallons wererequired, the entire contents of tanks 15 and 16 would be used and, inaddition, five gallons would be delivered from tank 17. If eightygallons were requ1red, the entire contents of all of the tanks would beused.

A pipe 20 has its lower end disposed in the sump 19 oi; tank 15 and itsupper end is connected to i branch 21 of a fitting indicated generally ythe reference numeral 22. A 90 pipe 23 has its lower end disposed in thsump 19 of the tank 16 and has its upper end connected to branch 24 ofthe fitting 22. Each of the pipes 20 and 23 is illustrated as rigid, butcould be made flexible if desired. A flexible hose 25 is connected atits upper end to a branch 26 of the fitting 22 and at its lower end to apipe 27 which extends through a stufling box 28 into the tank 17. Thebranches 21, 24 and 26 are provided with 1 check valves 29 to preventwater from flowing from one branch into another. The pipe 27 isadjustable upwardly and downwardly to vary the distance of its inletfrom the bottom of the tank so as to regulate the quantity of waterwhich can be delivered from the tank. As best shown in Figure 3, a rack30 is mounted to slide upwardly and downwardly in guide 31, the rackbeing raised or lowered by rotation of a pinion 32 secured to a shaft 33which is provided with a crank 34 so located as to be easily accessibleto the truck driver. The rack may be held in adjusted positionby'tightening the setscrew 35. The lower end of the rack is connected bya clamp 36 to the pipe 27 so that as the rack is raised or lowered uponrotation of the crank 34, it carries with it the pipe, thereby varylngthe distance between the lower end of the p1pe and the bottom of thetank 17. In order to indicate the amount of water which can be withdrawnfrom the tank 17, a pointer 40 is secured to the pipe 27, the positionof the pointer being indicated by a scale 41 secured to the guide 31.

Each of the tanks is provided with an airtight cover 45 through whichextends a filling opening 46 which is normally closed by a screw cap 47.

The water is forced from the tanks 15, 16 and 17 to the drum 3 underpneumatic pressure which may be obtained from any desired source, as anair compressor or the exhaust gases from an engine. In the embodimentillustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the pneumatic pressure is obtained froman air compressor 50 which is connected to the engine 9 which rotatesthe drum. The engine 9 drives a shaft 51 through transmission gearingenclosed within the casing 52. A sprocket chain 53 passes around asprocket 54 secured to the shaft 51, and around a sprocket 55 connectedto a clutch element 56. The other clutch element 57 is connected to thedrive shaft 58 of the air compressor, the clutch mechanism beingoperable through a handle 59 disposed within the reach of the truckdriver.

The air from the compressor 50 flows through a pipe 60 to an equalizingchamber 61 and is delivered from the equalizing chamber through a pipe64 which leads to a header 65, shown in Figure 3. The tanks 15, 16 and17 are connected respectively by air pipes 66, 67 and 68 to the header65, each of the pipes 66, 67 and 68 being provided with a valve 69. Whenthe clutch is thrown in, if it is desired to force water from any of thetanks 15, 16 or 17, the proper valves 69 are opened and the compressedair from the equalizing chamber 61 flows through the header and thepipes 66, 67 and 68 to the tanks and forces the water from the tanksthrough the water pipes 20, 23 and 25 to the fitting 22. The fitting 22is connected by a coupling 75 which allows the pipe 76, which extendsaxially of the drum, to rotate. The water forced through the pipe 76 issprayed through openings 77 and deflected by bafiles 78 and 79 so as tothoroughly wet the material being mixed.

The water may be forced from the water tanks to the mixing drum by meansother than an air compressor. The 1 pneumatic pressure may be obtainedfrom the engine exhaust gases, and if. this method is resorted to, Iprefer to employ the device illustrated in Figure 4.

It is well known that when the exhaustvalve from any cylinder of agasoline engine is opened, the gases are expelled from the cylinder withhigh velocity and under considerable pressure, but the pressure of thegases in the discharge through the valve falls ofi very rapidly as thegas escapes. By means of the device illustrated in Figure 4, thehigh-pressure portion of the exhaust gas is utilized for forcing thewater from the water tanks to the mixing drum. When the deviceillustrated in Figure 4 is employed, the mufi ler 80, shown in Figure 1,is replaced by a muflier 81, as shown in Figure 4, the inlet 82 of themufiler being connected to the exhaust pipe 83 of the engine 9. Themufiier is provided with an outlet 84 controlled by a valve 85, and alsohas a second outlet 86 which is disposed in alignment with the inlet 82.The outlet 86 is bell-shaped and is connected to the equalizing chamber61 by a pipe 87 controlled by a check valve 88. The equalizing chamber61 is connected by a pipe 64, as above described, 100 to the header 65which supplies the gas under pressure to the water tanks. In theoperation of the device, when the exhaust pressure is at its highest andthe velocity of the exhaust gas from the exhaust pipe 83 is at itsgreatest, a part of the exhaust gases will pass through the bell-sh apedoutlet 86 and pass the check valve 88 so as to bring up the pressure inthe equalizing tank 61, but as soon as the pressure in the mufller 81has fallen to that of the equalizing tank, the check valve closes andprevents the escape of gases from the equalizing tank while theremaining gases from the exhaust pipe 83 escape through the outlet 84.The amount of gas which can be thus obtained under pressure in theequalizing tank and the pressure that can be obtained there, dependsupon the amount of the exhaust gas and its pressure and the amount ofrestriction to the flow interposedby the valve 85 in the outlet 84. In adevice of this character, the check valve 88 should be of a type whichis exceedingly quick acting and which is very sensitive, in ordertoinsure the proper operation of the device.

Instead of supplying the pneumatic pressure for forcing the water fromthe tanks to the drum by an air compressor, as illustrated in Figures 1and 2, or by means of the exhaust gas from the engine 9, as illustratedin Figure 4, a combination of these two sources of pneumatic pressuremay be employed by simply connecting the air compressor 50 and theoutlet pipe 87 to the equalizing chamber 61. o

In a portable mixer of the kind above described, the weight of the tanksand the water contained therein is located as low as possible so as notto increase the liability of the truck to overturn when traveling onuneven ground. The arrangement is such that the pipes which convey thewater from the water tanks to the mixing drum do not have water in themexcept when the discharge is taking place, and therefore they are notlikely to freeze. Since a plurality of-tanks of different capacities areemployed, the error in the quantity of water supplied is reduced to aminimum. Although in the illustrated embodiment tanks 16 and 17 aredescribed as having a capacity of twenty gallons each, it will beunderstood that one, of these tanks could be subdivided into a pluralityof compartments and each compartment connected to the mixing drum in themanner described for the tanks 15 and 16, or in the manner described fortank 17. By reducing the size of the compartments, any inaccuracy in thequantity of water delivered to the drum may be reduced to within thedesired limits. It will be noted also that any inaccuracy which iscaused by the truck being on uneven ground is much less in my inventionthan would be the case if a single large tank were employed. In order toreduce to a minimum any inaccuracy in the quantity of water which can bedelivered from tank 17 when the truck is on uneven ground, the inlet ofthe pipe 27 is disposed in vertical alignment with the geometric centerof the tank.

I have illustrated and described the present preferred embodiment of myinvention. It is to be understood, however, that the invention may beotherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In combination with a portable mixer, a plurality of water tanks'ofdifferent capacities arranged below the mixer, connections from each ofthe tanks to the mixer, and means for forcing water under pneumaticpressure from each tank to the mixer.

2. In combination with a portable mixer, a plurality of water tanks ofdifi'erent capacities arranged on opposite sides of and below the mixer,and means for forcing water under pneumatic pressure from each tank tothe mixer.

3. In combination with a portable mixer, a plurality of water tanks ofdifferent capacities arranged below the mixer, means for forcing waterunder pneumatic pressure from each tank to the mixer, and adjustablemeans for regulating the quantity of water which can be delivered fromone of the tanks.

4. In combination with a portable mixer, a plurality of water tanks ofdifferent capacities arranged below the mixer, connections from eachtank to the mixer, means for forcing water under pneumatic pressure fromeach tank to the mixer, the connection to one of said tanks beingadjustable upwardly and downwardly to regulate the quantity of waterwhich can be delivered from the tank.

5. In combination with a portable mixer, a plurality of water tanksarranged below the mixer, and means for forcing water under pneumaticpressure from each tank to the mixer.

6. In combination with a portable mixer, a plurality of water tanks ofdifferent capacities arranged below the mixer, connections between eachtank and the drum, an air compressor, and air pipes each provided with avalve and connecting each tank to the compressor for forcing water fromthe tanks to the mixer.

7. In combination with a portable mixer, a plurality of water tanks ofdifferent capacities arranged below the mixer, connections between eachtank and the mixer, and a pipe provided with a valve connecting eachtank to a source of engine exhaust gas for forcing water from the tanksto the mixer.

8. In combination with a portable mixer, a plurality of water tanks ofdifferent capacities arranged below the mixer, connections between eachtank and the mixer, a pipe provided with a valve connecting each tank toa source of engine exhaust gas for forcing 100 water from the tanks tothe mixer, and a check valve interposed between the source of exhaustgas and the tanks for utilizing the high-pressure portion of the exhaustgas.

9. In combination with a portable mixer, a plurality of water tanks ofdifferent capacities arranged below the mixer, connections between eachtank and the mixer, a pipe provided with a valve connecting each tank toa source of engine exhaust gas, a check valve in said pipe, and amuffler having an inlet connected to the source of exhaust gas and aplurality of outlets, one of said outletsleading to said check valve.

10. In combination with a portable mixer, a plurality of water tanksarranged below the mixer, means for forcing water under pneumaticpressure from each tank to the mixer, and adjustable means forregulating the quantity of water which can be delivered from one of thetanks.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

WILLIAM MAYO VENABLE.

